1920s Politics, Economics, and Culture influences on Music and vice versa

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Music influencing Politics....

In the very early 1920s, up until the 19th Amendment for women's suffrage in August of 1920, women's suffrage was a popular topic for female singers. Their songs expressed emotion and longing for equality of the vote in the way of women participation. These songs influenced politics to aid the fight for womens suffrage and partially led to the victory.

Music influencing Economics....

Music (more specifically Jazz bands) became increasingly popular to listen to and dance to in the 1920s. These bands and singers prompted an increasing number of people to buy radios, along with electric phonographs and records, to listen to their favorite songs. This led to massive sales and overall economic gain(4).

Music influencing Culture....

The 1920s was a time where there was a segregation of blacks from whites, and a definite difference in treatment of both groups. However, in music clubs, whites crowded in to hear their favorite black bands play. These two groups were in the same room as each other, and the whites felt that the blacks had something of value to offer! This influenced black-white cultural relationships at the time.
Music brought people from different parts of the country together in the 1920s. The radio was able to broadcast songs not only locally, but country-wide, so people in the North could experience the same music as those in the South. This gave the two groups a similarity from which to connect. The music brought the country together with common songs(4).

Politics influencing Music...

Prohabition came back into the light in the 1920s because of the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act(1, 3). Many people who had grown accustomed to consuming alcohol, so they went to Speakeasies, or secret bars, to drink(2). The Speakeasies often had live bands, which is where many groups got a foothold in the music business and people came to drink, listen to music, and sometimes dance. The ban of alcohol and the creation of Speakeasies helped the new music in the 1920s to spread and become popular.

Economics influencing Music...

Since automobiles were becoming more affordable for the everyday family or person in the 1920s state of economic gain, there was a new free range of movement. People could drive places which to it was not easy to walk, including Clubs where live bands were performing. Club business skyrocketed in this time period and this helped spread the new songs faster than usual, influencing greatly the course of popular music(4).
There was a time of economic boom and growth during the 1920s. This caused the general population to have excess cash to spend. The affluency led to more purchases and extravagance such as going to clubs to listen to music and dance in one's free time. The period of economic growth helped many fads and practices take hold, including the music in clubs(4).

Culture influencing Music...

Music varried from place to place. Depending on a song's origin, the topic and attitude towards it were very different. Where African Americans were concentrated, songs that had to do with problems that they faced and had a positive outlook on the black race were prevalent. In the Northern cities, songs about busy city life and work were common. All in all, the culture of the area influenced what the songs were basically about.

Works Consulted

1. Meredith, William A.. "The 18th Amendment." The Great Experiment. 29 Apr 2005. 4 Mar 2008 <http://www.albany.edu/~wm731882/18th_amendment_final.html >.

2. Poholek, Catherine H.. "Prohibition in the 1920s: Thirteen Years That Damaged America." Prohibition in the 1920s. 06 May 1998. 4 Mar 2008 <http://www.geocities.com/Athens/troy/4399/ >.

3. "Volstead Act - 1920." History Central. 2000. MultiEducator, Inc.. 4 Mar 2008 <http://www.historycentral.com/documents/Volstead.html >.
http://www.enotes.com/1920-media-american-decades/phonograph-records

4. Nash, Gary B., Julie Roy Jeffrey, John R. Howe, Peter J. Frederick, Allen F. Davis, and Allan M. Winkler. The American People. 5th. Addison Wesley Longman.